HarvardX
Free online courses from Harvard University. Browse free online courses in a variety of subjects. Harvard University courses found below can be audited free or students can choose to receive a verified certificate for a small fee.
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Fellowship and Training Opportunities
Fogarty Global Health Training Program
The HBNU Fogarty Global Health Training Program offers opportunities in global health research training for pre- and post-doctoral candidates from the U.S. and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs), sponsored by the Fogarty International Center (FIC) and several collaborating Institutes and Centers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The program provides opportunities to generate a new cadre of global health researchers, educators, and professionals who will be prepared to address the new challenges in global health. The program provides fellows with a 12-month, mentored research fellowship in innovative global health research to promote health equity for populations around the world. The fellowship is aimed towards: US doctoral students (PhD, DrPH, etc.), professional students (MD, DDS, DVM, PharmD, Engineering etc.) and postdoctoral fellows, as well as foreign postdoctoral fellows from affiliated international sites in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Takemi Program in International Health
The Takemi Program in International Health seeks to improve health and health systems around the world by welcoming mid-career health professionals and scholars to the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health to conduct path breaking research and develop their leadership skills. Takemi Fellows examine problems of mobilizing, allocating, and managing scarce resources to improve health, and of designing effective strategies for disease control and prevention and health promotion, with a focus on low and middle-income countries. Our global network of Fellows provides the collaborative basis for advancing better policies through national and international institutions to support the Takemi Program’s vision for a healthier world. Since its inception in 1983, 290 Takemi Fellows from 56 countries have been selected to participate in the Program.
Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program
The Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program is designed to inform transformative vision, enhance leadership effectiveness and political acumen, and develop planning and execution capacity among ministers. Launched in 2012, the Ministerial Program is a joint initiative of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This collaborative approach supports health, education, and finance ministers to pursue ambitious human development goals to better realize their countries’ prospects for sustainable development, particularly among nations where the demographic dividend has the potential to boost economic progress and lift whole generations out of poverty. Led by senior Harvard faculty and experts, together with a distinguished group of former and long serving ministers, each year the Harvard Ministerial Forums bring approximately 30 serving education, health, and finance ministers from Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America to Harvard University to explore possibilities for a transformative legacy in government and develop a road map for accomplishing far-reaching policy goals with the aim of optimizing economic opportunity.
Science of Eradication: Malaria (A Leadership Development Course)
Preparing and inspiring a future generation of scholars and leaders is an essential component to achieving a malaria-free world. As part of a unique academic consortium effort, three institutions with deep knowledge and expertise in malaria—the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Harvard University, and Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute—have established an innovative leadership development course to advance the goal of global malaria eradication. The Science of Eradication: Malaria is an intensive, weeklong foundational leadership development course that provides participants with a multidisciplinary perspective on approaches to malaria elimination and eradication.
Global Initiative for Neuropsychiatric Genetics Education in Research (GINGER)
GINGER is a two-year global neuropsychiatric genetics training program established by the Broad Institute, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and research and academic institutions participating in NeuroGAP-Psychosis and NeuroDev. The program will help boost global capacity for neuropsychiatric genetics research by training a new generation of independent researchers in this field. GINGER’s curriculum, developed with the active participation of senior faculty from each participating institution across East and South Africa, immerses enrolled fellows in a rich combination of didactic learning, hands-on training, team building, and peer mentoring.
Research Collaborations
Africa Research, Implementation Science, and Education (ARISE) Network
The next phase of the ARISE Program is now being led by Marcello Pagano, Wafaie Fawzi and Postdoctoral Fellow Elysia Larson, with support from Megan Scott. In January, Dr. Larson and eleven educators from public health institutions, representing 10 institutions in eight countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa will convene as McGoldrick Fellows at the partner site, University of Rwanda African Center for Excellence in Data Science (ACE-DS) for a two-week workshop. The program will provide training and mentorship to junior faculty fellows on both general topics in higher education (such as syllabus development, instructional style) and specific materials for the course titled “Data management with software application.” The focus of this course is on producing high-quality, reproducible, and useable datasets. Topics include survey measurement and design, principles of data collection, quality assurance, and data sharing and reporting. The program will also facilitate the networking of instructors from all over sub-Saharan Africa, specifically Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.
China-Harvard-Africa Network (CHAN): A Tripartite Partnership in Health
The China-Harvard-Africa Network is being formed in light of global health threats and opportunities facing the world today. Both Africa and China have made important gains in a range of public health areas in recent decades. Maternal and child health have improved significantly and meaningful progress has been made in tackling diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. However, much remains to be done, and today’s social, economic, and environmental dynamics present new challenges. Noncommunicable diseases are on the rise, exacerbated by inadequate health systems infrastructure. Under-nutrition and over-nutrition are increasingly common in the same communities. And outbreaks of infectious disease such as Ebola continue to threaten public health. Harvard University has a longstanding commitment to China and Africa. Through regional health partnerships at Harvard Chan, our faculty, researchers, and students engage in research, teaching, and knowledge translation to address some of the most critical public health issues with our partners. Through this Network, we hope to leverage our collective knowledge, experience, and strengths to build cross-regional collaborations, while enhancing the quality, sustainability, and effectiveness of health systems in each region.
Defeating Malaria: From the Genes to the Globe Initiative
Together with the global health community, Harvard University is committed to helping achieve the vision of a malaria-free world. Leveraging the breadth and depth of expertise of Harvard’s students, faculty, and alumni, the University has established a unique cross-school effort—Defeating Malaria: From the Genes to the Globe Initiative. The Defeating Malaria Initiative aims to produce, transmit, and translate knowledge to support the control and ultimate eradication of malaria. This effort is spearheaded by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in collaboration with the Harvard Global Health Institute, and in partnership with Mr. Ray Chambers, current Ambassador for Global Strategy to the World Health Organization and former United Nation’s Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Health in Agenda 2030 and for Malaria. To maximize the potential impact of this work, the University will strive to build a broad set of collaborators from the global malaria community and partners from all sectors, including industry, government, commerce, and the academic community.
Neuropsychiatric Genetics in African Populations (NeuroGAP)
Despite the fact that African populations harbor the greatest level of human genetic diversity in the world, they are sorely underrepresented in genetic studies — particularly in studies related to psychiatric genetics. Within the field of mental health, genetic data are the key to identifying genes and variants that contribute to psychiatric conditions, and to developing new biomarkers, diagnostic tests, and treatment options for these conditions. As those data do not currently reflect African populations, a great deal of promising biology is likely being missed, as are opportunities to improve mental health care globally. To address this knowledge gap, the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute, in partnership with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, has launched Neuropsychiatric Genetics in African Populations (NeuroGAP), a major global psychiatric genetics initiative in Africa. The main goal of this partnership is to advance the genetic analysis of serious mental illness, while contributing to global mental health equity, by expanding infrastructure and research findings in Africa.
Affiliated Institutions
AIDS Prevention Initiative Nigeria (APIN)
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in partnership with Nigerian governmental and non-governmental agencies and universities in Nigeria, initiated the AIDS Prevention Initiative Nigeria (APIN) supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in late 2000. Education, training, and capacity building were the original foundations of the program and critical to its sustainability. Through sponsored projects, APIN implemented prevention strategies that were tailored to target states. APIN supported over 30 projects in the target states of Lagos, Oyo, Plateau, Borno, and the Federal Capital Territory. These projects addressed the program objectives of promoting AIDS awareness, second-generation HIV and STD surveillance, intervention in high-risk populations, prevention of mother to child transmission and ARV treatment to adult and pediatric populations. APIN sought to develop evidence-based prevention programs for each target state with the recognition that epidemiologic heterogeneity might influence program design. This represented a new model for HIV prevention/intervention program design and implementation – driven by targeted assessment and surveillance methods the programs were specifically tailored to the capacities of our Nigerian partners. The collaborative design and implementation process developed the capacity and sustainability of the programs and provided the necessary foundation for scale-up particularly in association with significant access to treatment and care programs.
Botswana Harvard Partnership
Established in 1996, the Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership (BHP) is a collaborative research and training initiative between the Government of Botswana and Harvard AIDS Initiative. Research areas include virology, molecular biology, immunology, genetics, epidemiology, and social and behavioral issues relevant to the AIDS epidemic in Botswana and southern Africa. With a fully-outfitted research laboratory and training center, the BHP is one of Africa’s leading scientific institutions. The Botswana–Harvard HIV Reference Laboratory on the grounds of Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone houses clinical and laboratory research and serves as a training facility. The Lab increases Botswana’s research infrastructure by providing opportunities for students, scientists, clinicians and technicians.
African Academy of Public Health
The Harvard-affiliated Africa Academy for Public Health (AAPH) is a regional hub for health-related research, training and education, and knowledge translation. Harvard Chan and AAPH have been working together for over 40 years to advance public health priorities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Officially established in 2009, AAPH is an independent organization registered in Tanzania.
African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID)
Recent advances in genomic technologies for studying humans and microbes have the potential to transform the clinical care, surveillance, and understanding of infectious diseases. In order to truly participate in this genomic revolution, African researchers must be equipped with knowledge of cutting-edge genomics tools, and multidisciplinary approaches to carry out fully independent and high impact research. This project aims to establish the African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) at Redeemer’s University in partnership with academic, clinical, and research institutions in Nigeria, Sierra-Leone and Senegal. The partners in these three countries have a long-term track record of successful research, training, and capacity building in collaboration with each other and with US partners at Harvard University, the Broad Institute, and Tulane University.
Harvard Medical School
Fellowship and Training Opportunities
Paul Farmer Global Surgery Research Fellowship
The Paul Farmer Global Surgery Fellowship was created to train leaders who will further promote surgical care, education, and research pertinent to global surgery, anesthesia, and obstetrics and gynecology care. Fellows will develop academic, research, and administrative skills in global surgery, public health, surgical systems development, and humanitarian aid. Throughout the course of the Fellowship, there will be a focus on developing a skill set necessary to promote the role of surgery, anesthesia, and obstetrics and gynecology in health systems strengthening and universal health coverage. The Paul Farmer Global Surgery Fellowship consists of two separate tracks - research fellow and research associate. Learn more about each track below.
Research Collaborations
Partners In Health
Our mission is to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care. By establishing long-term relationships with sister organizations based in settings of poverty, Partners In Health strives to achieve two overarching goals: to bring the benefits of modern medical science to those most in need of them and to serve as an antidote to despair.
Whether to Liberia, Rwanda, or any of the countries we work and live, we go where we’re needed most. We care for patients in their homes and communities. We work in close partnership with local government officials and the world’s leading medical and academic institutions to build capacity and strengthen health systems. And we stay, committed to accompanying the people and communities we serve for the long term.
Division of Global Health Equity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
The Division of Global Health Equity is committed to training, research, and service in healthcare to reduce disparities in disease burden and to improve treatment outcomes both domestically and abroad. The Doris and Howard Hiatt Residency Program in Global Health is a unique multidisciplinary program that combines rigorous training in internal medicine with the advanced study of public health to train the next generation of global health practitioners. Under the leadership of Division Chief Paul Farmer, the Division fosters the work of faculty committed to meet the needs of populations in the world's poorest areas to practice medicine and strengthen health systems through numerous partnerships and initiatives domestically and globally. The Division focuses on infectious diseases like HIV, tuberculosis and Ebola, as well as non-infectious diseases such as coronary artery disease, diabetes, addiction, and other critical health problems. Division faculty undertake essential research using insights from anthropology, history, sociology, epidemiology, statistics, economics, and other social sciences to improve medical care in the world's poorest areas.
Affiliated Institutions
University of Global Health Equity
We’re on a mission to radically change the way health care is delivered around the world. UGHE is a new university based in Rwanda that is building the next generation of global health professionals—doctors, nurses, researchers, and public health and policy experts—into leaders and changemakers who strive to deliver more equitable, quality health services for all. We’re reimagining health education to ensure that quality health care reaches every individual in every corner of the globe.
Summer Programs
Global Health Delivery Intensive Program
The Global Health Delivery Project (GHD) at Harvard is a collaboration between Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard Business School. Founded in 2007 by Harvard University professors Paul Farmer and Michael Porter, and Jim Yong Kim, GHD investigates the management of disease treatment and prevention by addressing the significant global health “delivery gap” that, despite unprecedented new financial resources and medical advances, prevents care from consistently reaching patients who need it. GHD disseminates this knowledge through scholarly publications, educational opportunities, and online communities of practice on GHDonline.org. GHD aims to train current and future leaders in health care delivery.
GHD’s Global Health Delivery Intensive (GHDI) summer program is rigorous three-week session with courses in epidemiology, management science, and health care delivery. GHDI is a key component of GHD’s efforts to expand the educational opportunities in global health delivery and convene a new cadre of health professionals trained in the major concepts and skills in delivering value-based health care.
Harvard Innovation Labs (iLabs)
We are an innovation ecosystem that exists to support Harvard students and select alumni in their quest to explore the world of game-changing entrepreneurship. Whether you’re here to solve a problem by creating a business, or simply interested in learning about innovation more broadly, we’ll help you get there further, faster. We unleash the innovative power of individuals through a network of highly-curated advisors and mentors, peer collaboration and interaction, and comprehensive resource and programming support.
Harvard Business School
Global Opportunity Fellowship (GO:Africa)
Fellowship and Training Opportunities
Executive Education
Programs for Individuals: Whether you seek development opportunities for yourself or a colleague, explore our many offerings—from multi-week comprehensive leadership programs to short, topic-focused learning experiences. Each offers a challenging curriculum, a global perspective, and eminently practical solutions to business challenges.
Programs for Organizations: Digital transformation, globalization, unprecedented competition, and shifting customer expectations are changing organizations. Harvard Business School can help you address critical challenges and opportunities through our unrivaled breadth of leadership development solutions.
Creating Emerging Markets
Creating Emerging Markets explores the evolution of business leadership in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. At its core are interviews, many on video and by Harvard Business School faculty members, with leaders or former leaders of businesses and NGOs. These interviews, with men and women of diverse backgrounds, address pivotal moments of transition in their regions. They contain compelling insights on entrepreneurship, innovation, family business, and the globalization of firms and brands. Emphasizing ways that businesses can create value for their societies, the project provides a unique resource for research and teaching. From the beginning, it was envisaged as a public goods project, designed to be available to scholars and educators worldwide.
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Seminars
Harvard Seminar for New Presidents
The Harvard Seminar for New Presidents provides a practical orientation to the presidency, familiarizing new presidents with the opportunities and hazards they will likely face and preparing them to respond to the multiple responsibilities that await in their new roles. This six-day seminar focuses on critical issues in the first months and years of the presidency, with intensive sessions that address a range of topics, including board governance, fundraising, academic leadership, strategic planning, the digital president, and the public role of the presidency.
Harvard Seminar for Presidential Leadership
Join a cohort of college and university presidents from a wide range of institutions as you step back from the daily responsibilities of the presidency and engage in candid and critical conversations about your challenges, your concerns, and your own leadership performance. This interactive and retreat-like seminar provides a rare opportunity for college and university presidents and chancellors to reflect on personal and institutional challenges in a supportive and confidential setting. The Seminar will focus on topics of importance to college and university presidents: confronting financial challenges, navigating controversy, leading shared governance, and considering new models for higher ed delivery. Presidents will also reflect on where they are in the arc of their presidency, consider some of the hazards that can befall presidents midway through their presidency, and think about how to decide when it is time to leave.
Harvard Global Health Institute
The Harvard Global Health Institute is committed to surfacing and addressing broad challenges in public health that affect large populations around the globe. We believe that solutions that will move the dial draw from within and beyond the medicine and public health spheres to encompass design, law, policy, and business. We do that by harnessing the unique breadth of excellence within fields at Harvard and by being a dedicated partner and convener to organizations, governments, scholars, and committed citizens around the globe.
Harvard Law School
Islamic Studies Program
Harvard Law School has a number of faculty members with academic pursuits and scholarship in the field of Islamic Law.